Jeff Berg, born in Liverpool in the fifties, took up guitar because he thought it would
get him a girlfriend, it didn't work.
First guitar, the 60's
When his parents realised he took it seriously, they reasoned it would be better for him
to play it tunefully rather than just experiment, and he was sent to study under Bill Sullivan,
a well known guitarist / banjo player from Litherland.
Bill listened to Jeff's attempts so far, took a 1949 Gibson ES175 off the wall and said;
I'll teach you Jazz.
Well it seemed to work and soon the boy was off playing semi-professional gigs all over
Liverpool with no hint of fame or stardom.
Third guitar, the 70's
Some years later he did his last gig in August 1980.
That may have been the end of the story but for a friend who persuaded him in 1997 that
it might be time to start playing again.
So they dropped by a music shop in Johannesburg where he purchased an
acoustic guitar, then an electric, then an amp, then an effects board, then a MIDI outfit,
then enough bits to fill a small studio. This of course did not happen in one day, more over
a period of days.
Although Jeff had listened to the rumoured existance of a fretless guitar from as early as 1998,
he didn't manage to aquire one until June 2003. After that he was on a collision course
with the musical equivalent of a "Road to Damascus" life changing experience.
What, you may ask, was this? Well he found Ned Evett's website and ordered the CD
"Fretless Guitar Masters", to quote Jeff; "I had it on in the car and it was so good I nearly
drove into a tree, but remembered the advice, never harm anything that might one day become a guitar."
So that was it, a couple of weeks later the website was purchased and here we are.
Unfretted guitar, now.
In his own words - Unfretted purchase
Jeff Berg
A long time ago I read a guitar review for a fretless guitar in 1998. Like a lot of reviews you read it is often
difficult to track the instrument down in an actual shop. Living near Liverpool all the local shops
would say is "You'll have to go to London to find something like that." So I went to London and did
not find anything there.
You could say this put the project on a back burner for a while, but it did provide a very good stock reply to
the guitar shop assistant who asks if you need any help: "Have you got a fretless guitar?" responses have
varied from "They don't make them." to "We'll not have your sort around here" or "We can order you one".
We can order you one, this makes me mad, I can order one myself, I know about the Internet, it will arrive
on my doorstep the next day.
So time went by, and I did get to realise one thing, no shop you walk into is going to have one of these beasts.
Trouble is I really wanted to play one before purchasing. Guitars are like that for me, you know when you play it
that it is going to be right for you. For instance I really like Rickenbackers' sound and looks, but I've never
liked playing them, I just can't get used to the neck, its stupid personal stuff.
Finally I found a really good guitar shop, and after a few visits felt optimistic enough to enquire
about a fretless guitar;
"We had a Glissentar once." said the assistant, I could tell from the tone of his voice that they
had had a Glissentar once and possibly for a very long time before they managed to sell
it in a sale with a large label saying massively reduced,
unique oportunity to own, last ever made, etc.. What about getting one in for me to try? In a more than my job's
worth voice he said he would ask the boss.
Six days later a call to my mobile announced they had found the only fretless guitar
in Europe, come down and give it a go. So with unreasonable haste I did, it was nicely made, seemed to work,
and a few hundred quid cheaper than the internet enquiry I'd made some weeks back. And it came with a case,
"Sold to the gent with more money than sense" was ringing in my ears as I drove home in the Manchester rain.
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